So by now most of the country is out there chasing thunder chickens… Did you know that you could be improving your deer season while you are trying to put the smack down on a big old Tom? Most of us don’t get to spend countless hours in the woods scouting and preparing for hunts so utilizing every chance you get is imperative to getting your deer game to the next level..
So what can the scouting spring woods do for us in the fall?……
Locating usable sign: One thing that I have done in the past that has been literally killer for me is locating old scrapes and rubs, particularly scrapes. And more to the point primary scrapes… Scrapes that are used year in year out. How do you determine if a scrape is a primary scrape or not? A good indication it looking at scaring on roots to see if there is multiple layers where the root healed and was reopened, same goes for the chew branch. Also size and depth of the scrape, often scrapes used for multiple years will have been dug out quite a bit more than your typical field edge scrape.
What else can we learn from scrape this early in the season…well I got new from you a primary scrape with a licking branch is not only use for communication in the pre-rut and rut but often in summer those scrape located next to feeding areas will begin being used by bucks and does, to begin laying down the foundation of pecking order.
